James Densley

Biography

James Densley is a professor and department chair of criminology and criminal justice at Metro State University. He is best known for co-creating the largest, most comprehensive database of mass shooters in the United States, known as The Violence Project.

Densley has authored nine books and edited two more, including the bestselling The Violence Project: How to Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic, which won the 2022 Minnesota Book Award. He has published more than 60 peer-reviewed articles in top scientific journals, and over 100 chapters and essays in outlets such as The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, TIME, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.

Since joining the Metro State faculty in 2011, Densley has taught the following classes:

• CJS 101: Introduction to Criminal Justice
• CJS 201: Foundations in Criminal Justice
• CJS 301: Research Methods in Criminal Justice
• CJS 320: Criminology and Public Policy
• CJS 333: Gangs
• CJS 339: Homicide Studies
• CJS 340: Comparative Criminal Justice
• CJS 356: Violence in America
• CJS 382: Special Topics in Criminal Justice
• CJS 465: Crisis Response, Mental Illness, and Working with Special Populations
• CJS 489: Capstone in Criminal Justice - Internship
• CJS 490: Capstone in Criminal Justice - Research
• CJS 610: Applied Graduate Research Methods in Criminal Justice
• CJS 620: Reducing Crime: What Works, What Doesn’t, What’s Promising?
• CJS 625: Community Building and Social Change
• CJS 690: Praxis Seminar II
• CRIM 327: Police Culture
• CRIM 330: Policing and Society

Publications (selected)

Books

Pyrooz, D., Densley, J., & Leverso, J. (2024). The Oxford handbook of gangs and society. Oxford University Press.

Densley, J. (2023). The Conversation on guns. Johns Hopkins University Press.

MacLean, C., & Densley, J. (2023). Police, prosecutors, courts, and the constitution: toward ending the “awful but lawful” era. Springer.

Densley, J., McLean, R., & Brick, C. (2023). Contesting county lines: case studies in drug crime and deviant entrepreneurship. Bristol University Press.

Decker, S., Pyrooz, D., & Densley, J. (2022). On gangs. Temple University Press.

McLean, R., & Densley, J. (2022). Robbery in the illegal drugs trade: violence and vengeance. Bristol University Press.

Peterson, J., & Densley, J. (2021) The violence project: how to stop a mass shooting epidemic. Abrams Press.

McLean, R., & Densley, J. (2020). Scotland’s gang members: life and crime in Glasgow. Palgrave Macmillan.

McLean, R., Robinson, G., & Densley, J. (2019). County lines: criminal networks and evolving drug markets in Britain. Springer.

Bumgarner, J., Hilal, S., & Densley, J. (2016). Minnesota’s criminal justice system. Carolina Academic Press.

Densley, J. (2013). How gangs work: an ethnography of youth violence. Palgrave Macmillan.

Peer-Reviewed Articles (2024)

Densley, J., MacLean, C., & Hilal, S. (in press). Higher education’s role in educating and training culturally competent police officers: challenges and opportunities of the Minnesota model. Multicultural Learning and Teaching, 19. https://doi.org/10.1515/mlt-2023-0029.

Leverso, J., Densley, J., & Insco, L. (in press). Keeping it real: a signaling theory perspective on authentic claims of gang membership made on social media. Theoretical Criminology. https://doi.org/10.1177/13624806241279280.

Pyrooz, D., & Densley, J. (in press). Pulling back the curtain on the California gang database: evidence of racial, ethnic, and gender disparities among 222 law enforcement agencies. British Journal of Criminology. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azae040.

Densley, J., Pyrooz, D., & Sanchez, J. (in press). Public perceptions of gangs: an experimental test of nomenclature, race/ethnicity, violence, and organization. Justice Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2024.2378703.

Deuchar, R., Frondigoun, L., Densley, J., & Davidones, C. (in press). Taser use in Scotland: a qualitative study of police officer and community perspectives. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10610-023-09569-3.

Pyrooz, D., Densley, J., & Sanchez, J. (2024). Does the public support anti-gang policies and practices and can opinions be swayed? Experimental evidence from a national survey of Americans. Journal of Criminal Justice, 94, 102265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2024.102265.

Peterson, J., Densley, J., Hauf, M., & Moldenhauer, J. (2024). Epidemiology of mass shootings in the United States. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 20, 125–148. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-081122-010256.

Peterson, J., Densley, J., Riedman, D., Spaulding, J., & Malicky, H. (2024). An exploration of K-12 school shooting threats in the United States. Journal of Threat Assessment and Management, 11(2), 106–120. https://doi.org/10.1037/tam0000215.

Deuchar, R., & Densley, J. (2024). Exploring the intersection of drug addiction and mental ill-health in Scottish prisons: a qualitative study of incarcerated men. Journal of Drug Issues, 54(3), 326–345. https://doi.org/10.1177/00220426231161282.

Pyrooz, D., Leverso, J., Sanchez, J., & Densley, J. (2024). History, linked lives, timing, and agency: new directions in developmental and life-course perspective on gangs. Annual Review of Criminology, 7, 105–127. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-criminol-022222-035715.

Awards and Honors

2022: Minnesota Book Award (General Nonfiction)

2019: Metro State's first "University Scholar"

2017: UK Prime Minister’s Points of Light Award for “outstanding individual volunteers”

2013: National Gang Crime Research Center’s Frederick Milton Thrasher Award for “superior accomplishments in gang research”